Sound producer



R. ROOSEN SOUND PRODUCER June 7, 1938..

Filed Dec. 25. 1955 Patented June 7, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT orries Application December 23, 1935, Serial No. 55,803 In Germany January 8, 1935 1 Claim.

Diseases of the organs contained in the abdominal and pelvic cavities are usually very hard to diagnose. The complaints of the patients during the initial stages of the disease are rather vague and insufiicient for a proper localization of the trouble, and external examination of the organs by touch for size and condition, may be misleading owing to accumulation of fat. Chemical and physical methods, including X-ray photography, are not sufiiciently reliable either, for determining upon a treatment which will have the desired result.

The object of the present invention is to eliminate this diagnostic uncertainty by generating acoustic waves within the cavities, and testing the reaction of the organs to said waves by auscultation or measurement, as in the case of chest troubles.

For carrying out this method, an apparatus is used according to the invention which comprises a sound producer arranged in a casing communicating with a pipe adapted for insertion into the rectum, the casing immediately sur rounding the sound producer being enclosed in an additional casing which forms a vacuum space around the inner casing and prevents external propagation of the sound.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing which represents a sectional view of the apparatus.

An electric sound producer I is enclosed in a casing 2 which is connected to and communicates with a pipe 3 adapted for insertion into the rectum so that the sound waves will be propagated 3?? through the tube into the abdominal and pelvic cavities. In order to prevent outside propagation of the sound, which might interfere with the auscultation, an additional casing 5 is provided which encloses the casing 2 and forms a vacuum space 4 around it. A cab-1e 6 passes through the two casings into the sound producer I for supplying driving power to the latter, the usual means being provided for regulating the strength of the sound.

The sound will be propagated by the apparatus to the various organs contained in the abdominal and pelvic cavities, and the reaction of the organs to the sound waves will vary according to their condition of health. Enlargements of the organs, abscesses, water accumulations, swellings and the like will influence the quality and strength of the propagated sound, and any deviation from the normal, as determined by means of a stethoscope or a measuring instrument, will serve as an indication that the particular organ or locality subjected to the test, is out of order.

Particularly the strength of the sound, as observed in the stethoscope, will depend on the distance of the latter from the sound producing apparatus. Under normal conditions a uniform sound will be observable in each particular region, and any distinctive variation in the sound at any particular point or locality, will be a sign that something is wrong. In this manner the source of the trouble can in most cases be easily found.

The mechanical effect of the vibrations will also have a definite influence on the organs and particularly on the movements and activity of the bowels. The vibrations are thus likely to cause a pain at the seat of trouble which will aid in the localization of the latter.

I claim:

An apparatus for generating acoustic waves within the abdominal and pelvic cavities, com prising an electric sound producer, a casing en-- closing said sound producer, a sound tube communicating with said casing and adapted for'insertion into the rectum, a second casing enclosing the first-mentioned casing and forming a vacuum space around it, and means for supplying current through the casings to said sound producer.

RUDOLF ROOSEN. 

